Philadelphia Phillies Fans Want Him but Is There a Fit for Seiya Suzuki?

The Philadelphia Phillies have made their intentions clear this offseason that they want to improve their outfield. It is a unit that posted a combined .251/.309/.399 line in 2024 with 50 home runs and 218 RBI across 1,890 plate appearances. With recent reports out of Chicago, fans have begun to clamor for Seiya Suzuki.

Joel Sherman reported on Friday that the Chicago Cubs are "determined to trade either" Cody Bellinger or Suzuki in order to create more payroll space. While Bellinger has been on the block since he chose not to exercise his opt-out, Suzuki comes as a surprise. The Cubs do have a log jam in the outfield with Ian Happ firmly entrenched in left, and Pete Crow-Armstrong breaking out as a productive center fielder, but Suzuki seemed to be their full-time designated hitter.

Many Cubs fans have spoken out against their team wanting to trade Suzuki. Many fans of other teams have taken the rumors in stride, taking to social media and expressing their desire to have him don their team's uniform, including fans of the Phillies.

I would like it if the #Phillies traded for Seiya Suzuki.

MLB Career: .278/.354/.470/.824#RingTheBell https://t.co/dhLgoTN28y
— In The Alley Baseball Podcast (@InTheAlleyPod) December 6, 2024

i want seiya suzuki on the phillies make it happen dave
— emily ♡ (@clemenstimee) December 6, 2024

While Chicago has a log jam in the outfield, Philadelphia is currently dealing with one of their own. Johan Rojas needs to be in center field daily for his defense alone, and Brandon Marsh is elite defensively in left field while producing offensively at an above-average level; he has a 117 OPS+ during his time with the Phillies.

The club has, however, expressed their desire to trade veteran right fielder Nick Castellanos this winter. Castellanos signed a five-year, $100 million deal that has two years remaining, and he has vastly underperformed over the first three years. From 2013 through 2021, his time spent in the Majors before signing with Philadelphia, Castellanos produced a 116 OPS+. In the three years since signing, he has produced a 105 OPS+ and has consistently regressed at the plate.

With the Cubs intending to move Suzuki to free up space in the payroll, it is unlikely that a one-for-one trade including Castellanos is in the cards. Suzuki is under contract for the next two years at $19 million each, while Castellanos is under contract for the next two years at $20 million each. However, the fit is there for Suzuki with the Phillies, so let's assume the club does move Castellanos in another deal.

Suzuki signed with Chicago out of the NPB to join MLB ahead of the 2022 campaign. He is two years younger than Castellanos and has spent the last three years with the Cubs, posting a 128 OPS+ in that time, clearly better than Castellanos's 105 mark.

Suzuki has batted .278/.354/.470 with 55 home runs and 193 RBI across 1,614 plate appearances in 381 Major League games. Injuries have held him out of playing 140 or more games in a season to this point in his career, but he did play 130 or more in each of the last two years.

During his time in Major League Baseball, Suzuki has quietly been one of the better hitters in the sport. Per Baseball Savant, he added 28 points of offensive run value in 2024, ranking in the 93rd percentile.

He hit a career-high 21 home runs in 2024, which would be a slight downgrade from Castellanos who had 23. However, if Suzuki played all of his games at Citizens Bank Park, he would have hit 24 home runs. His right-handed swing, pulling the ball in the air with an average launch angle of 12.8 degrees (16.2 in 2024), would serve the outfielder much better at CBP than it has at Wrigley Field.

Suzuki has a much better approach at the plate than Castellanos, too, which would have gone a long way to helping Philadelphia in their National League Division Series matchup with the New York Mets. Suzuki swings at the first pitch only 13.1 percent of the time in his career, chases only 20.6 percent of the time, and whiffs on only 22.9 percent of pitches that he sees.

Compare that with Castellanos, who calls his plate appearances "glorified batting practice." Castellanos swings at the first pitch 42.2 percent of the time for his career (51.1 percent in 2024), chases at a 36.4 percent rate, and whiffs on 30.3 percent of the pitches that he sees. Over the course of a full regular season, those rate differences can prove vastly detrimental to a team's chances of winning.

Suzuki carried a walk rate of 10.8 percent in 2024, ranking in the 80th percentile. Castellanos walked at only a 6.2 percent rate, ranking in the 22nd percentile.

The offensive fit that would make Suzuki an upgrade is clearly there, but there are off-field benefits to trading for the outfielder, too. Philadelphia has wanted to break into the NPB international free agent market for years, even offering Yoshinobu Yamamoto the largest contract of any other team before the pitcher signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Having Suzuki on the team, a former NPB star would be a great addition that could help in that market.

The Phillies have been trying to get into the NPB market for years, notably offering Yoshinobu Yamamoto more money than any other team.

If they really want to go after the incredible talent coming from that league, they’d go after Seiya Suzuki from Chicago. He’s a proven player…
— 𝐾𝑦𝑙𝑒𝑒 シ (@BSP_Sully) December 6, 2024

Having Suzuki on the roster could be a big benefit if the club intends to go after the young phenom pitcher Roki Sasaki. Sasaki is looked at as one of the best pitchers available this winter, and having him at the back end of the rotation would be a great way to get him acclimated to the much more grueling schedule of MLB.

If the Phillies are serious about contending for years to come, they have to do much more than they have done to this point in the offseason. So far it has been all talk.

Trading Castellanos and trading for Suzuki would be a massive boon to the team's offensive production. The fit is clearly there, and the club has the trade capital available to make it happen.

The fans are banging at the door of the front office yelling, "Give us what we want!" It is now up to the front office to improve the team so that they can stand on the field and ask, "Are you not entertained?"